I’m looking forward to seeing the new seasons of Andor. With it has come a new round of claims that the Empire is a prime example of fascism. But there are several kinds of totalitarian systems, and the Empire doesn’t really fit the fascist model. Using the term too loosely takes something away from identification of the real thing. In an earlier post, I discussed the nature of fascism. You may want to read that article before continuing here.

I wrote in that post that “the heart of Fascism is the annihilation of the private individual.” The ultimate example of fascism in space fiction is Star Trek‘s Borg. Thinking for oneself is not only prohibited, it’s impossible once you’re assimilated. Everyone is a part of the collective. The leader embodies the people and is always right.

Fascism is a subcategory of socialism or the command economy. It differs from its close cousin Communism in putting a rhetorical emphasis on hierarchy rather than leveling and in keeping the forms of private property while making businesses an arm of the state. In practice, the difference between fascism and Communism is small. Colonial empires are more like parasites living off a semi-free economy or local tyrannies.

The Empire acts more like the Roman Empire or the worst of the European colonial powers of recent times. The Emperor is reclusive; you don’t see pictures of Palpatine everywhere. (Considering his looks, I can’t blame him.) He’s interested in draining wealth from the worlds he controls, not in being a figure of adulation. We see local gangster rule and a thriving underground economy. Before the Empire, there was the Trade Federation, a cartel on an interplanetary scale. The Republic, like the Empire, taxed people and trade on all its worlds. Probably it gave Trade Federation lobbyists nice deals. It almost looks as if the main difference from the Empire was just the abolition of representative government. Day-to-day life under the Empire, as long as you didn’t live on a targeted planet like Alderaan or Niamos, may not have been all that different except for a bigger police presence.

Just what did Palpatine want, anyway? He didn’t pursue glory and recognition. His lifestyle didn’t seem to call for vast wealth. His driving goal was power for power’s sake. He resurrected himself after Darth Vader apparently killed him, so extreme longevity was likely one of his goals. Maybe his massive tax revenues helped him to accomplish that, but it seems he just wanted to be the one who gives the orders. That’s a similarity to a fascist ruler, but he’s a different kind of tyrant from Hitler and Mussolini, who were always out in front of the crowd.

The considerations in opposing imperial-colonial and fascist rule are quite different. An imperial government has to strike a balance between getting wealth from its controlled regions and keeping resentment from boiling over. It usually doesn’t suppress local cultures as long as they don’t fight back. It’s relatively easy to start a resistance movement, though the threat of brutal suppression will discourage one. In a fascist state, it’s dangerous to talk to anyone about defying the government. Opposition groups like the White Rose in Germany didn’t get far. The Rebel Alliance couldn’t exist under full-blown fascist rule.

The Empire’s colonial rule is brutal at times, but it’s aimed at keeping the population in line, not urging them to be patriotic supporters. Its brutality is especially evident in Season 1 of Andor. The Empire keeps strict control on Niamos, perhaps because it’s a popular refuge for fugitives.

A state can be a combination of both, with fascist-style rule in its central lands and colonial rule in its conquered ones. Coruscant under the Empire was surely a police state, but even there the main point seems to have been political control and revenue, not thought control.

Regardless, I’m looking forward to the continuation of Andor. I’ll be watching it at a friend’s house, so I won’t have to waive my right to a wrongful-death lawsuit against Disney.